On our Transatlantic voyage from Barcelona to Port Canaveral one of our two stops was San Juan Puerto Rico. It’s a very pretty place but I have to admit one of the things that I love most about San Juan is the ability to get delicious food. From a woman who was born and raised in Brooklyn and the wonderful mixture of people, sounds, scents and flavors of the city that go along with it, to being someone that no longer lives there, I miss good food. Food that I actually like with plenty of flavor, seasoning and a lot of heart, Puerto Rican food being one of top 5 favorites in the category of Travel Xena’s Best Loved Foods. Enough about food however.

The Epic was lovingly docked in this colorful and fun port by the captain and team, and while it was doing that, in pulls the lovely in the morning light MSC Divina alongside us. I nosily took photos of their bridge crew as well as the Epic’s. So if you love seeing a ship dock, or simply enjoy photos of ships from varying angles, you’ll enjoy the below.

This post has been a long time coming! (Thank you for taking the time for the interview Mikael and my apologies for not posting sooner 🙂

In December (’15) DH and I took a cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway, it was our 3rd or 4th cruise on this ship and needless to say we enjoy it, that’s why we went.

I had a chance to have a chat with Captain Hilden. I’ve called it an interview in the heading but Mikael Hilden and I had a chance to have a chat and discuss the history of Finland, his family and suggestions for those interested in his line of work.

Read it all below!

Captain Mikael Hilden: We have merged with Denmark and we lost sometime we won sometimes and at some point we went together and then we agreed on one country. But then soon after that, we became a different country. So Denmark and Norway have been long time partners with some warfare as well. But between Finland and Sweden, there was never a war. We were just one country. There were not really countries those days, Sweden was a country. But for example, Russia did not exist, it was just the big steps of them. Germany, as we know today, did not exist. There was a lot of, I think 29 or 30 Kingdoms around. They work together, but that was not a country. Sweden was a country before England.

Travel Xena: Wow, I never knew, so it’s really, really lots of history there.Mikael Hilden: Yes, I mean England belongs to the Roman empire and part of Germany belongs there and they push them off of it. I mean the borders went like this. Sweden was more stable these days…So Finland and Sweden were together together than Sweden had been part of Sweden.

Travel Xena: Ok, so that’s why….

Captain Mikael Hilden: So that’s why we have traditions, we have Swedish-speaking population. It’s very, very small it’s like 5 percent to 6 percent today. But it’s the official language, we have Swedish-speaking schools where I went and we have to learn Finnish of course and in Finnish-speaking school you have to learn a little Swedish and so we still have the tradition there.Travel Xena:: That’s truly is something. So in general, if you live in the area where you spoke Swedish that no one spoke Finnish for the most part?

Captain Mikael Hilden: No, not anymore because this Finnish-speaking population grows faster than Swedish because we are so cute. So we still have some traditions of the Swedish-speaking areas, but we have all on Island it’s like 99 percent Swedish-speaking. We have the archipelago, which is more Swedish speaking, but there is a lot Finnish speaking. There was maybe 80, 90 percent recall, now it’s narrow down to 60 percent. Some areas where, when we move just outside of Helsinki.
If you go to Finland and you see all the signs, they are always in two languages and if you see the Swedish name first then you know that majority is Swedish-speaking. If the Finnish name is first majority is Finnish-speaking.

Travel Xena: Ok, so you know where you are based on that. Oh, that’s helpful; I guess when you go there. Wow, that’s interesting, I have to go there I always say I would go there one day.
———————————————————————————-Travel Xena: When did you decide to be a captain or to work on ships or was it something that you didn’t decide it was just your family?Captain Mikael Hilden: I did not decide. No, my family would have been something else when I grow up I can’t even remember anybody told me I to be something. It was sort of just an understanding of I was going to become a doctor. My father was something else in the family before we’re doctors. There were a lot of priests, but that was not the thing. We have a couple bishops in our family, but that was not the plan for me.

My grand-mom wanted me to become a Mathematician because she was and math was an easy thing for me when I was a child but it was not really my thing. And it was just a teacher of mine asked: “have you thought of becoming a captain?” Just out of the blue, just like that. I said no. He said: “would you like to go for an interview?” And that’s it, I mean you have to be up for different things so let’s go and it was already arranged.

I know that teacher, he still keeps in touch. I asked him a few years ago, how did you come up with that? He said: I don’t have a clue, I don’t know. So I went for the interview and it actually sounded interesting. So I decided to become a captain.Travel Xena: That’s so interesting, especially coming from a family that had totally different ideas what you going to do. Mikael Hilden: We didn’t have a single family friend involved in shipping. I knew one person that had been working on a ship, but he was like ten years older than me. We knew each other. It was a cousin of mine who lived very far. It was like I have nothing else, he was so much older…I knew as much about captains as anybody here like the captain steering the ship but as soon as we learn, that is really not the case but it is what it is.

And so I had a long chat with my dad he did not really…I mean sailors had a bad reputation, they were drinking, which was not really true anymore but that was the reputation that hangs in there.

Travel Xena: Especially him being a doctor. Captain Mikael Hilden: And then so, we talked a long time. Then he finally admitted that he wanted to become a naval officer, but after the second world war, they said: Ok, you could not do anything else you are not good enough because some many remained in the naval army. He was in the navy as well, so he decided I will show that I can do something else than become a naval officer but that was what he wanted to do.

And then he was a dentist at first and so he started to train and that’s basically how I decided to become a captain and I’ve not even think about anything else before I get my captain license. But he was a dentist and then he did a surgery, he wanted to finish up that part but he didn’t like. So by 34 years of age decided that he wanted to become a medical doctor instead.

So he studied again and became a neurosurgeon specialist. So I told him when I get my captain license, at that point I knew a little bit more so I said I would be about the same age when you changed your mind. So he said: “why don;t you think that I could change my mind and do something else?” So that’s where he gave up, I said Ok. Now I decided that I could become a captain, I would work as a captain and then I would decide what to do.

Stay tuned for the rest of the interview on Captain Mikael Hilden of the Norwegian Breakaway.

So readers by now you think that all I do is cruise. I really do enjoy land based vacations, but since I started cruising three years ago, you’d be right. I like my land vacations combined with cruising, cruises are fun and great value for the money, I’ve no intention to stop any time soon. Of my 14 cruises, 12 have been on Norwegian Cruise Line. I’m comfortable there, they’re quirky, I’m quirky, the other passengers are quirky, it suits me and me usually introverted but I’m an extrovert on vacation quirk.

So when group opinion for what was to be a group cruise one year ago said that we were to go on Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas, I was only marginally excited I have to admit. …”Bbbbut” (sob) I said. “What about Freestyle dining, ’cause I don’t eat eat with weirdos, only quirky folks.” I said, “I want to go to the White Hot Party” I said and finally a “Oh all right.”

Well a year later it was a relief to find out that I had nothing to be concerned about. While I still think that more personality gels more with the freestyle cruising concept I’d certainly go, and look forward to going on a Royal Caribbean cruise again. In fact I even bought future cruise credits.

Some Differences Some Similarities

Despite being an introvert, I put forth an effort to be outgoing when on vacation and I actually think that being around people I don’t know can be a nice thing for brief periods. That doesn’t extend to eating with strangers however.

On Norwegian, freestyle dining is the norm. When you’re hungry you go and eat. You can eat alone, with whomever you came with or with a group of strangers if there’s an open table. There are also way more specialty dining options on Norwegian.

On Royal Caribbean, you pay the daily service charge ahead of time for what is called “My Time Dining” if you want to arrange to eat by yourself of with the group you came with you should arrange this ahead of time with you travel agent or the line itself if you booked directly though them.

My preference: Norwegian. The lines for My Time Dining were long at the time that I went to eat (after 8pm) so I in fact asked to be seated with the women that I was traveling with. They actually had a table to themselves, so it worked out.

When I sail again on Royal Caribbean if I am traveling solo/sola I will probably request assigned seating at a table for 1. If I’m traveling with others, I’ll request a table for us only. As that seems like something fairly easy for them to accommodate it seems a simple solution.

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Besides the dining aspect, they’re a good deal more alike than they are different. The entertainment around the ship is similar. I can’t comment on the shows because I was too busy to ever go see one, but I certainly plan on catching on the next time around.

The crew, staff and officers are just a friendly and the officers are fairly equal in visibility.

I have 5 great interviews coming up with the following members of the Jewel of the Seas.
The Captain, The Staff Captain (who is a woman – girl power!), the Hotel Director, The Cruise director and the Food and Beverage director, all really cool people, but I yes I favor Kate McHue Staff Captain because without trying to sound cliche she’s pretty awesome!

Highlights

The Centrum. It’s in the middle of the ship, it’s easy to find and many activities take place there. Thumbs up! The 70s party was a blast and I like the thought of it being where everyone can get to right away and join in. The downside is that the area on the Centrum floor isn’t large, but in some ways that just adds to the fun of the chaos that is dancing for all the world or at least ship to see. It’s a great place to be if you’re trying to meet up with others, or simple sit quietly sipping on a coffee taking a glance up to reflect on the majesty of these huge vessels.

What I did

Dancing on the Pool Deck
Oh sure they do that on most cruises, but it’s fun! After standing there watching people do latin line dancing Dennis the cruise director decided that I wasn’t going to get away with standing on the sidelines. I found out when Elvis on the CD team told me “you with the camera, come here” Oh dear. Handing the camera and iPad over to Dennis I got up and shook my booty with everyone else and guess who got pretty good photos of it!

Thanks for the photos of me dancing Dennis!

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Laid around the Solarium on the pool deck. Laid around the Solarium on the pool deck. Laid around the Solarium on the pool deck. So comfy! And the best (strongest) Margaritas!

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Behind the scenes tours of the Galley, Theater and Bridge. If you’re new to cruising or just interested about what makes your trip special they’re worth doing. It also gives you a chance to ask questions of those that help make the sailing a smooth and enjoyable one.

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Dinner with the F&B Director Tony Fitzsimmons. Delightful and charming with over 55 years at sea! I’ll tell you more about him when I post the interview he was kind enough to give.

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…explored the ship and a whole lot of relaxing. Because that’s what vacations are supposed to be about. Who knew laying in bed, snacking and watching Skyfall could be so much fun!

Would I go back on the Jewel of the Seas?

Heck yeah! I had a great time on the ship, lots of activities, really nice people that work there and the ship is really beautiful. There is glass everywhere. The elevators, the coffee shop, all over. You can always have a great view of what’s happening without having to go far.

Needless to say that on a cruise you spend a large portion of time eating good food. This is the highlight of some of the meals we had. Each were memorable for either the company or food and usually both.

Dinner at the Captain’s Table

I’d asked the Mr. to go to reception and asked for our names to be put in for the drawing for “Dinner with an Officer”. So we were excited when we received an envelope noting that we’d been chosen to eat at the Captain’s Table with Captain Evans Hoyt and Sonya Sommereger. The meal was held at the Savor MDR and many of us went with the Chef’s special which was grilled shrimp on top of mushroom risotto. A very good choice it was delicious! The Mr. and I had a nice time speaking to those we sat next to. Irene a interior decorator with a lively, bubbly personality and Tom and young man from Hawaii studying on the East Coast. The Captain shared a lot of interesting maritime tidbits as well as peaks into his off-duty life in which he enjoys…boating. Truly a man of the 7 seas.

Dinner at the Manhattan room with Burn the Floor performing

For the majority of the trip we ate at specialty dining venues, simply because I enjoy trying out different tastes and flavors and there were a lot of fun places to eat and I wanted to have a varied atmosphere while dining. One evening we finally took the time to go to the Manhattan room at 5:30 before a crowd formed. We ordered our food and one of the pleasant servers came over and said “you’re going to stay for the show aren’t you?”. We asked what show and she told us Burn the Floor would be performing and that it was really good and worth watching; and so we stayed and are really glad we did. They were wonderful, energetic and really enjoy dancing.

Afterward we head up to the Latitudes cocktail party where we had a chance to see Marites Souza again! She’s such a sweetheart you’ll adore her within seconds of meeting her. She’s the executive housekeeper and does a great job in managing her very large staff, as our room was always very clean and tidy.

Captain’s Cocktail Party in the Haven

Dinner with Drew and Kin at The Manhattan Room

The last night of the cruise we had a chance to have dinner with one of the cutest couples on the high seas. Drew De Four and Kin Curran his wife. They’re very talented performers that play at Howl at the Moon dueling piano show. We did an interview with them which will be posted soon, but before that we enjoyed a lively and informative dinner with two people who are not only hard working and talented, but very pleasant and enjoyable to be around. For that meal I had the Chef’s special Tilapia which was really delicious.

Dinner at Le Bistro

Le Bistro is my husband’s favorite restaurant on board Norwegian ships and we always go at least once. Before hitting Platinum latitudes we’d go anyway, but now that we have the chance to a free meal and bottle of wine there there’s no way we’d miss dinner there. Even if you pay for it, it’s worth the $20 per person. If you’d like to get a taste of Le Bistro before committing to dinner, get in when they have a Jazz Brunch which is a few dollars less.

Dinner at Ocean Blu

The much awaited dinner at the highly touted Geoffrey Zakarian restaurant Ocean Blu.We made arrangements to eat there about a month and a half in advance of this sailing. We’re glad we did for two reasons in particular. This restaurant is often filled up and between the time we booked at the time we got on the ship the price went up from $35 per person to $49 per person. a 40% increase. However all bookings made at the original pricing we’re of course honored.

Now I won’t go into whether it’s worth the additional money or not because that really depends on what you value and how you value it. I will say that the food is very good and if the price ever goes back down to $35 per person or less we would go back. In the mean while I’d rather eat at Wasabi or the Raw Bar and pay ala carte pricing.

Note: I’ve photos of menus below this post if you’re interested in the offerings.

Bread and Butter – Ocean Blu

Dinner at Wasabi

Dinner at Wasabi was second choice. I can’t remember exactly what we had planned but I remember it not working out then and there, so I said “let’s go to Wasabi” and we did. For dinner we had a plethora of varied sushi rolls and a drink if I remember correctly which in total only came to about $21 with tip. Definitely a good value for the money and we meant to get back there but didn’t have the time. We’ll remedy that next time.

Enjoying the Sunset at Wasabi

Dinner at La Cucina

When I first started cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line I couldn’t imagine why they had an Italian restaurant on board. It seemed very common place and I’m not particular fan of pasta so I really thought that there would never be anything that I’d want there. I kept this mindset and for over two years I never set foot in there unless it was being used as additional seating for the buffet area all the way in the back. However one evening last September I finally decided to step in and was really glad that I did. There are a variety of offerings, the food is good and the price is reasonable ($15 per person).

It’s a good two steps above the Olive Garden so if you’re enjoy that food you’ll have a great time at La Cucina. One of my favorite things there is the warm fresh baked bread you’re served along with the four different flavors of olive oil. I could truly make a meal out of that alone.

If you’re on the Breakaway when the weather is warm dine al fresco and when you’re finished head over across the way to Maltings for a drink and then walk into Fat Cats which is right next door.

Late night meals at O’Sheehans

O’Sheehans. I’ve dubbed this place Shenanigans on the Epic because that’s what I usually get up to while there, but we were tame on the Breakaway it’s still known O’Sheehans/Oceans to me for now. Once we’d come out of a night of music listening to the fabulous Slam Allen at Fat Cats or Kin and Drew at Howl we found ourselves a bit peckish and would head over to O’s in order to nibble on a tuna salad sandwich with fries for me or hot wings or perhaps a burger for dear hubby. It’s open 24/7, the food is tasty and served quickly. What more can you ask for when you’re up at 2:00am after a full day of play and entertainment!